Robert A. Pruitt

In this drawing Robert Pruitt depicts a woman dressed in costume from the 19th century, when slavery still flourished, but with contemporary tennis shoes peeking out from underneath her dress. She holds a long-handled hammer, a reference to the freed slave John Henry, who worked as a steel driver and became a legend when he won a race against a steam-powered hammer during the 1870s. In the same way that Henry overcame a machine, Pruitt's heroic figure suggests the destruction of a corrupt and inequitable system.

<i>Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 24-May 18, 2014).

Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings

A drawing on light brown paper of a standing side profile of a Black woman facing our left. She is holding a long-handeled hammer that extends to the floor with her right hand. She is dressed in a 19th century black and white dress but contemporary white sneakers peer out from under her dress.

Studio of the artist, Houston, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Rage Against Machine

Robert A. Pruitt

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